On Friday, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced that after an 11-month investigation by the Texas Department of Public Safety perusing state records going back to 1996, 95,000 people who identified themselves as non-citizens were discovered listed on the voter rolls and an astonishing 58,000 had voted in at least one Texas election.
Paxton stated, “Every single instance of illegal voting threatens democracy in our state and deprives individual Texans of their voice. Nothing is more vital to preserving our Constitution than the integrity of our voting process, and my office will do everything within its abilities to solidify trust in every election in the state of Texas.”
Paxton was echoed by Texas Governor Greg Abbott, who tweeted, “I support prosecution where appropriate. The State will work on legislation to safeguard against these illegal practices.”
Sam Taylor, a spokesman for the secretary of state, noted that the voters who identified themselves as non-citizens would be contacted by local officials asking them to offer proof that they were indeed citizens. He pointed out that if non-citizens vote in Texas, that’s a felony; if they register to vote, that’s a misdemeanor.
The process discovering the voters identifying as non-citizens was an arduous one, utilizing names, birth dates and full or partial Social Security numbers as the investigation examined voter rolls and public safety records. – READ MORE